


Abyss of The Past

by LyraMaeRose



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-10 17:07:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6997039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyraMaeRose/pseuds/LyraMaeRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even though the Avengers were now closer than ever, all of them still had a few secrets hidden. Everyone in the team knew that fact and none of them mind the secrecy. But maybe they shouldn’t have kept their secrets in the dark for so long.</p><p>Because that way, they wouldn’t have to be stuck in a dark abyss and watch it being revealed to the team as they watch the battle of New York all over again.</p><p>In which the Avengers watch...well, the Avengers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! This is my first fic in the Avengers fandom, so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes and please bear with me. I assume you already know this from the summary, but this is a classic 'characters watch their own movies' kind of story.
> 
> I don't know what else to say other than I DO NOT own any characters in this story except for my own (which I won't mention who, 'cause SPOILERS) and I hope you enjoy!

Roughly a year had passed after the battle of New York. With the heli-carrier damaged, the only place where the Avengers could meet was at Stark Tower. Though the building was also damaged in the battle, most of the floors were safe and untouched. So Fury insisted, when the Avengers got back together, to constantly meet up at the Stark Tower, much to Tony's displeasure at the time.

The Avengers obeyed, some reluctantly, and did as they were told. Thor came back after three months, stating that Loki was being rightfully handled for his many crimes at Asgard. Together, they started to come to the Stark Tower frequently, to get used to each other and also to become a better team.

At first, it was pretty formal short-length meetings. They'd go to a certain room and discuss a few essential things together. Tony and Clint were the only ones who didn't act as formal, as the two quickly became friends due to their similar sneaky personalities and they always came up with some pranks for the next meeting, making it livelier and exciting.

After that, the meetings got a bit longer. The team would stay there for a few more unnecessary hours, and sometimes they'd even go watch a movie in what Tony had called the communal room.

The Avengers got closer every day, and they started calling each other by their first names. They even came up with a few nicknames for everyone. After a short while, since the meet-ups started, the team were closer than ever and none of them wanted to leave.

So when Tony offered each of them to live in the Stark Tower sometime later, they didn't even hesitate to agree, something that their old selves would find it very hard to believe. Bruce wasn't offered like the others because he was already living there from the start.

Soon, everyone moved in and got their own separate floors. Tony had designed the floors to each Avenger's style of living, going all out to make all of them feel as comfortable as possible. Members of the team had personally thanked him afterward, in their own way.

But even though they were closer than before, the team still had a few secrets. Sure, they had basically told everyone the gist of their pasts and how they came to be today in sessions. But some of them were still slightly insecure about telling a few details of their lives. And though none of them actually mind that fact, it probably would've been better if they told them earlier.

Because that way, they wouldn't have to share it with the class in a way they would never have expected.

* * *

It was another ordinary Sunday morning. Some of the team already got up earlier and had done their own morning routine. Steve, for example, went for a jog around New York in an unbelievable short period of time and came back just as everyone was gathering at the communal floor. (Yes, Tony made it into a whole  _floor_.)

At some point since everyone moved in together, Steve also had somehow gotten the task of dragging Tony out of his workshop for breakfast every day, and as always the engineer complained all the way. But Steve always got Tony to obey when he told him that Bruce was cooking.

It didn't take long for the team to know that Bruce was basically the God of the kitchen. Even  _Thor_  agreed, and he was an actual god.

Now the whole team was eating together on the couch (because  _who_  eats at a dining table) while watching the TV. Usually, they would take turns to pick a show, and since it was Steve's turn, the team was stuck on watching the local news. At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary start to their day.

Until the TV suddenly stopped playing and the screen went black.

"What the-?" Clint muttered, pressing the remote button several times with no success. "Tony, what's wrong with your TV?"

"Calm down, Tweety Bird," Tony said, rolling his eyes. "J.A.R.V.I.S, turn on the TV."

 _"I'm afraid I'm unable to do that, Sir."_  The AI replied.

Tony frowned. "Why not?"

_"I detect something that's preventing me from doing the task."_

"Are you hacked, J.A.R.V.I.S?" Steve asked, looking up at the ceiling.

 _"I don't think so, Captain,"_  J.A.R.V.I.S replied.  _"This is the first time I've experienced this level of difficulty."_

"I don't like the sound of that," Natasha stated, seemingly unfazed to the TV's shut down as she continued to eat her breakfast.

"Actually, who does?" Bruce raised an eyebrow.

Tony groaned, knowing that he had to fix this before everyone gets bored and start doing very unnecessary stuff. No one wanted a repeat of the 'Microwave Incident', after all. "I'm gonna go check what's wrong."

 _"I think you don't need to do that, Mr. Stark."_  An unfamiliar female voice suddenly said, startling the whole team. In response, the Avengers sharply looked around them for a threat, their hands instinctively snatching their weapons beside them.

"Who goes there?" Thor bellowed as he slowly stood up with Mjolnir in his hand.

 _"Stand down, Mr. Odinson. My name is Seraphina, and I am not an enemy."_  The voice answered.

"Not an enemy, my ass," Tony muttered, pointing a finger towards the ceiling. "What did you do to J.A.R.V.I.S?"

_"I merely closed a few doors, Mr. Stark. I did no harm towards him, as I simply wanted no disturbance."_

"And why would you do that?" Natasha asked suspiciously, putting her bowl on the table.

_"Because I am here for the sole purpose of showing you, the Avengers, something you need to know."_

"What?" Bruce asked in a puzzled tone. "What do you mean by-"

But the doctor didn't get any further than that, due to a sudden bright light that flashed around the team.

Everyone quickly covered their eyes from the blinding light and subconsciously braced themselves for any kind of attack. When the light subsided not a few seconds later and everyone slowly opened their eyes, they were shocked to see that they were no longer inside the Stark Tower anymore.

Instead, what surrounded them was a dark abyss.

"What in the world…" Steve breathed in shock.

"Where are we?" Clint frowned. "I don't see anything but darkness."

"We're not at Stark Tower, that's for sure," Tony stated matter-of-factly.

Natasha stared beneath her with her eyes narrowed. "Are we  _floating_?"

"I don't think so," Bruse said as he crouched down and examined the abyss. "When something floats, it means they're moving or hovering lightly in either liquid or air. But we're standing perfectly still as if we're simply standing like normal."

"I can walk," Clint said, taking a few steps forward.

Tony gave the archer a dumb look. "Yeah, thanks for that, Mr. Obvious."

Bruce frowned, taking off his glasses. "This is strange."

"Indeed, it is, Friend Bruce," Thor said, sauntering over to Bruce. "In all my youthful years, I have never experienced something like this."

_"I hope this will be a good experience then, Mr. Odinson."_

Immediately, the Avengers' guards were up and they looked around them for the source of the voice.

"Nice to hear you again, Sera darling," Tony said, his face seemingly calm. "Mind if you tell us where we are?"

_"I'm honored that you remember my name, Mr. Stark. Sadly, I'm unable to answer that question specifically. But let's just say that we're in an abyss of the past."_

"Abyss of the past?" Clint repeated, bewildered. "What do you mean by that?"

_"This is a place where you'll be able to view your past, Mr. Barton."_

The team's heads perked up at that. "Our past?" Steve asked warily.

_"That's correct, Mr. Rogers. But, don't worry. We won't be viewing your past individually."_

In response, everyone let out a  _very_  subtle sign of relief. None of them wanted to view their past, due to the fact that it didn't consist of sunshine and rainbows.

"So, what  _will_  we view then?" Natasha inquired.

_"Instead, we'll be viewing the events of what happened in New York, Ms. Romanoff."_

"New York?" Tony asked, puzzled. "Why would you show us that, Seraphina?"

_"I believe that this will bring the team even closer, Mr. Stark."_

Steve frowned. "And how will it do that, exactly?"

_"You'll see, Captain."_

Just as she said that, the dark abyss around the team suddenly shifted. The Avengers all but tensed and did a battle stance again. But they were surprised when the dark abyss changed into burning blue flames.

"Woah!" Clint shouted, stepping away from the fire.

 _"Fear not, Mr. Barton. You are unable to touch what you see before you."_  Seraphina assured the archer.

"Really?" Tony blinked, suddenly intrigued.

Steve realized where this was going and quickly said, "Tony, don't."

But the engineer ignored him and stepped forward, reaching for the flames with his hand. Tony's eyes widened when it just passed through easily. "Wow, you're right. It's like it's not even there."

_"Correct, Mr. Stark. What you see is only a projection of what happened. Think of it as a hologram."_

"You should've said that from the start, Sera," Clint said, annoyed.

_"My apologies, Mr. Barton."_

Natasha smirked. "What, are you scared, Clint?"

"No, I'm not." Clint quickly insisted, crossing his arms. "It surprised me, that's all."

"Alright. Whatever you say." Natasha smiled, giving him the look. Clint sighed, knowing that Natasha wouldn't let him hear the end of it after this.

But then, suddenly the blue flames gathered and united. And in its place, a familiar smoky cube emerged.

"The Tesseract?" Thor said, shocked.

"Okay, Sera. What's going on?" Tony quickly said, his gaze focused at the cube before him.

 _"Right now, we're viewing the chain of events that resulted in the battle of New York, Mr. Stark,"_  Seraphina explained.

"Alright, I get that," Tony said, waving his hand. "Next question, why?"

_"Again, Mr. Stark. I believe this will bring the team closer."_

"Couldn't you do that  _without_  showing what happened?" Tony scowled. "I don't like seeing the same thing twice."

Although Tony's words seemed reasonable, the team knew that it was more than that. They knew that it was a way to cover the fact that all of them had a few not-so-good memories from that incident. Their friends were forced to turn against them, their buttons were constantly being pushed, and don't get them started with Coulson.

None of them wanted to see that happen again.

 _"My apologies, Mr. Stark. But this is the best and fastest method available."_  Seraphina replied.

"So, now we're watching the past?" Steve frowned.

_"Correct, Mr. Rogers. Everything that you see is in the past."_

"And, we can't do anything but watch?" Natasha raised an eyebrow.

_"That's right, Ms. Romanoff. You won't be getting out of here until we finish."_

"That's just wonderful," Tony muttered under his breath. He turned towards the others and gave them a shrug which, in Tony language, meant, "Sorry, I tried."

"Well, might as well go through with it," Clint said as he slowly sat down in a comfortable position. The others looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"What?" The archer said, confused. "You heard the girl. We can't get out of here unless we watch this thing."

The rest of the team seemed a bit uncertain, but they followed his example and sat down as well. Natasha walked towards Clint and comfortably sat beside him. Steve took a seat beside the redhead, with Thor on his right.

"Fine." Tony sighed as he flopped down right next to Bruce, who was sitting next to Thor. "I don't know about you guys, but I don't want my breakfast to be cold so let's get this done."

That managed to get a few chuckles out of the team. "Don't worry, Tony. I'll heat it up later when we get back." Bruce said to the billionaire.

Tony made a face. "Of course you will, Brucie. Who else will do it?"

"I can do it," Steve informed, raising an eyebrow.

Tony snorted. "Right. We all know how that went well last time."

"Alright. Cut it out, boys." Natasha interrupted with a small smile. "We're here to watch something, remember?"

"Yeah, whatever," Tony said to the girl.

 _"Are you all ready?"_  Seraphina asked.

Steve glanced at his team around him and nodded. "Yes."

"I am intrigued to how this will go," Thor grinned. "This is similar to my movie nights with Jane."

 _"Well then, Avengers, I hope you enjoy the show,"_  Seraphina said. Then, the image of the Tesseract twirled even closer and an unknown voice appeared.

**"The Tesseract has awakened." The voice said just as the Tesseract slowly disappeared and what seemed like an alien spaceship emerged instead. "It is in a little world…A human world." The voice said as if disgusted by the word.**

"Hey, what's wrong with Earth?" Tony asked, feeling offended.

**Then, a vague shadow of a figure was seen inside the spaceship. Apparently, it was the source of the deep, alien voice. "They would wield its power, but our ally knows its workings as they never will."**

"Is that another alien?" Natasha asked, examining the figure.

"Looks like it," Steve answered.

**Then, the figure slowly turned around and faced a horned shaped shadow, a long scepter seen in his grasp. As the scene got clearer, the shadow's features slowly came into view.**

"Loki." Thor breathed, recognizing the figure. Instantly, the Avengers tensed at the name and some of them started to glare at the Asgardian.

Natasha glanced at Clint, whose eyes were dangerously narrowed and his jaw was incredibly tense. The redhead placed a gentle hand on Clint's own, and the archer's features softened instantly. He glanced at Natasha and smiled, his way of saying thank you, which Natasha accepted.

Meanwhile, Tony glanced at the duo a few meters away.

**After that, the unknown figure handed Loki the scepter in his hand, a long golden handle, fitted with a blue gem encircled with silver blades.**

**"He is ready to lead. And our force, our Chitauri, will follow." The scene changed into tens of thousands of the Chitauri as they stood ready in a seething mass of neat rows and columns.**

**Then, the abyss shifted. This time, the Tesseract appeared again and the scene quickly zoomed into the blue flames inside.**

**"The world will be his. The universe, yours. And the humans, what can they do but burn?"**

"Um, we can  _stop_  you." Tony pointed out with a grin. That managed to ease the tension around the team as some of them cracked a small smile.

"You are indeed right, friend Tony," Thor grinned, patting Tony on the shoulder, imitating what Tony did when they had first met.

"Hey!" Tony said stopping the demigod. "Go easy on me, Point Break. Don't want my shoulder to break."

**Just as he said that, the abyss adjusted to the night view of what seemed to be a desert. The sound of a helicopter was heard and then the scene zoomed into a remote research facility, which was in a state of panic.**

**From the looks of it, it was an evacuation.**

"Where is this?" Steve asked, surveying the facility.

"New Mexico, specifically the Mojave Desert," Natasha replied. "This is a S.H.I.E.L.D facility, the base of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S."

"Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S?" Bruce questioned.

"Secret operation of S.H.I.E.L.D's. It was for studying the Tesseract." Clint answered for him, remembering the place.

**It was full chaos. Dozens of people ran around the place, some jumping on the nearest Humvees. A voice bellowed from the hidden loudspeakers, quickly guiding the people out of the facility.**

**Then, the scene altered into a helicopter pad. Standing a few yards away from it was a person with a suit and shades, peering at the helicopter as it quickly landed on the pad.**

The Avengers could instantly recognize him, even from a mile away.

"Coulson." Steve and Natasha muttered in sync.

Tony looked at them, confused. "I thought his first name was Agent."

Natasha rolled her eyes at the billionaire, but she didn't scold him of saying that joke like she used to. She knew that Tony meant well and he wasn't insulting Coulson in any way. Besides, she saw Tony's eyes soften for a second before he said that.

Natasha smiled. Tony seemed like he could kill, but inside he's just a cinnamon roll. (Present tense, cause he's  _still_  a cinnamon roll.)

**Coulson watched as the helicopter door opened and Agent Maria Hill quickly came out, followed by Director Nick Fury. Fury surveyed the facility for a few moments before he walked away from the helicopter and approached Coulson.**

**"How bad is it?" Fury asked the agent.**

**"That's the problem , sir," Coulson replied, taking off his shades. "We don't know."**

"That alone speaks volumes," Thor said. "Agent Coulson usually knew everything, correct?"

"Mostly, Thor." Tony corrected the Asgardian. " But, not everything."

**The scene altered again to Agent Coulson leading Hill and Fury through the radiation section of the facility. Many technicians and other staff ran around, taking the essentials before going out of the facility.**

**"Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago," Coulson informed them as they walked.**

"Selvig?" Thor's head perked up at the mention of his friend.

**Fury scowled. "NASA didn't authorize Selvig to go to test phase."**

**"He wasn't testing it, he wasn't even in the room," Coulson stated. As Fury simply looked at him, the agent added, "Spontaneous event."**

**"It just turned itself on?" Hill questioned.**

**"What are the energy levels now?" Fury asked Coulson.**

**"Climbing," Coulson replied. "When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered the evac."**

**"How long to get everyone out?" Fury inquired.**

**"Campus should be clear in the next half hour," Coulson answered.**

**Fury simply gave Coulson a look before saying, "Do better."**

**The agent quickly nodded and walked away to the opposite section of the facility. Now, the abyss shifted and changed into a flight of stairs. Hill and Fury were seen walking down on it.**

**"Sir, evacuation may be futile." Hill pointed out behind Fury.**

**"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" Fury said sarcastically.**

Tony furrowed his eyebrows. "What kind of joke was that? Even Steve can do better."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Steve scowled, offended.

**"If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance," Hill remarked to the director.**

**But Fury didn't regard her remark seriously and he glanced at Hill before saying, "I need you to make sure that PHASE 2 prototypes are shipped out."**

"PHASE 2," Steve muttered, shaking his head in disapproval. "And they already made prototypes for it."

"Ah yes, S.H.I.E.L.D's attempt of protecting the Earth," Thor stated, recalling the project. "If making weapons could be called protection, that is."

"Believe me, it's not," Tony informed with a grim expression.

**Apparently, Hill's mind wasn't on the same page as Fury. "Sir, is that really a priority right now?"**

**Fury halted and turned around, facing the female agent. "Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on."**

**Agent Hill was silent, having no comeback for that statement. Satisfied, Fury walked ahead of her. "Clear out the tech below. Every piece of PHASE 2 on a truck and gone."**

**"Yes, sir," Hill replied, walking away from Fury and towards two standing agents. "With me."**

**Fury watched her leave before he walked into a vacuum chamber and entered a particular lab facility. Inside was a CMS machine, holding the Tesseract as the flare rings shot out randomly. A dozen scientists were also in the room, monitoring the Tesseract.**

**"Talk to me, doctor." Fury said as he approached the machine. Behind it, Dr. Erik Selvig emerged, seemingly concerned.**

**"Director," Selvig said before he approached Fury, walking past a scientist who was checking the Tesseract carefully.**

**"Is there anything we know for certain?" Fury inquired the man.**

**"Tesseract is misbehaving," Selvig replied just as another flare came out of the Tesseract.**

**"Is that supposed to be funny?" Fury said.**

**Selvig shook his head. "No, it's not funny at all. The Tesseract is not only active, she's...misbehaving."**

"You're mistaken, Selvig." Thor frowned. "The Tesseract doesn't just misbehave. She never acts that way."

"Then, why is it acting like that?" Natasha asked, curious.

"It's because someone made her to. She never acts like this on her own." Thor informed her.

**"I assume you pulled the plug?" Fury asked the scientist.**

**"She's an energy source. If we turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level..." Selvig trailed off.**

**Fury seemed to catch on and he halted in front of Selvig. "We've prepared for this, doctor. Harnessing energy from space."**

"For the wrong reason." Tony pointed out.

**"But we don't have the harness. My calculations are far from complete." Selvig deadpanned, stopping in front of a small monitor before he glanced at the Tesseract. "Now she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation."**

**"Any level of gamma radiation is harmful." Bruce scowled.**

**Fury seemed to have the same idea. "That can be harmful." The director paused before asking, "Where's Agent Barton?"**

"Aaand this is when I come in, folks," Clint said, smiling. "No applause, please."

"Who would do that?" Tony asked incredulously.

**Selvig let out a snort. "The Hawk?" He said, his lips twitching upwards before he gestured somewhere behind him. "Up in his nest, as usual."**

**The abyss changed again and this time, Clint Barton came into view, wearing his black tactical gear. The agent was perched on the railings, watching the people from above.**

Tony choked at the sight. "Are you  _hugging_  the railing?"

The Avengers but Clint outright laughed, some doubling over and holding their stomachs.

"I was  _perching_!" Clint shouted to Tony, his face red with embarrassment.

"Right. But your face is way too serious for you to be hugging, Clint." Tony managed to say as he laughed, ignoring his friend. "Oh man, why didn't I bring my camera? This is great!"

"Shut up, Stark!" Clint shouted again.

**"Agent Barton, report." Fury's voice could be heard from Clint's earpiece. Clint obeyed and stood up from his position, quickly sliding down on a rope.**

**"I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things." Fury said as Clint approached him.**

**"Well, I see better from a distance," Clint answered. Fury accepted the response and walked with Clint towards the Tesseract.**

**"Are you seeing anything that might set this thing off?" Fury inquired. No sooner did he ask that than a NASA scientist suddenly calling out to Selvig, "Doctor, it's spiking again."**

**"No one's come or gone. And Selvig's clean. No contacts, no I.M.'s." Clint informed, glancing at said man who had walked over to the NASA scientist earlier to check the readings.**

**The archer stood beside Fury besides the Tesseract and crossed his arms. "If there was any tampering, Sir, it wasn't at this end."**

**What Clint said caught Fury's attention. "At this end?"**

**Clint glanced at Fury for a second before nodding. "Yeah, the cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right?" Clint looked at Fury again and lightly shrugged. "Doors open from both sides."**

"You're finally using that brain of yours, birdbrain." Tony joked.

"Hey. You're not the only one that has a brain here, genius." Clint retorted.

"But, friend Clint." Thor interrupted. "The Tesseract doesn't open doors. It opens-"

"Portals." Clint cut him off. "I know, Thor. It was just a reference."

**Selvig clacked away at the keyboard and his expression hardened at what he saw. "Not yet." He muttered as he tried to stop whatever was going to happen.**

**Besides Clint and Fury, the Tesseract thundered and shook the entire facility. It was enough that both Coulson and Hill felt it, despite them being at different ends of the place.**

Clint's smile dropped immediately. "Oh no." Natasha noticed and started to rub small circles on his hand gently.

"I don't like where this is going," Bruce said, eyeing the Tesseract warily.

**The flaring rings and glow of the cube spouted out brighter and louder, just like a boiling pot of water. Everyone in the room couldn't do anything but watch as the Tesseract's energy gathered into a beam similar to the Bifrost, which hits at the end of a platform that is wired to the CMS device.**

**The great maelstrom beam fired the Tesseract energy and formed a vortex, which slowly opened up a portal.**

"Oh no, this is  _much_  worse," Bruce muttered with wide eyes, unknowingly quoting himself from a year ago.

**From the portal, the blackness of space, beautiful and mysterious, strewn with a billion stars appeared and a gust of blue energy filled the room, blinding everyone.**

**The Tesseract's energy formed into a cloud that reached to the vacuum chamber ceiling. For a few seconds, it was abnormally quiet. Then, heavy breathing was heard from the platform. Several S.H.I.E.L.D guards slowly approached with weapons in their hands. A figure was kneeling on the platform, smoke coming off it.**

"Loki." Steve scowled. Clint silently gulped, knowing what was going to happen next.

**Loki slowly raised his head, smiling as if he had accomplished something. The smile faltered, though, when he saw that he wasn't alone. The Asgardian stared deep into the eyes of Fury, Clint and Selvig before he stood up, holding the scepter with his hand.**

**Loki's head turned to Fury when he said, "Sir, please put down the spear!"**

"I think that's the only time I've heard Fury say 'please'," Tony remarked.

"It may be the only time, considering who Fury is," Steve added.

**Loki looked at his scepter for a few moments before an idea popped into his mind and he smiled. Suddenly, the raven-haired god pointed the edge of the scepter at where Fury and Clint were standing and shot out a blue exploding light towards them. Clint managed to tackle Fury and they both narrowly missed Loki's fired shot.**

**Then, all hell broke. The S.H.I.E.L.D guards fired at Loki but the bullets bounced off him, not even leaving a scratch. Loki jumped high from the platform and was quick to attack those firing at him.**

**In the blink of an eye, Loki took down several guards with his knives and energy blasts from the scepter. After a few seconds, he stopped and waited to see who'd attack him next just as he observed the messed up lab facility.**

"Now that's what I call a mess," Tony muttered as he saw all of the broken machines and the scattered tools that were everywhere.

**A few yards away, Clint tried to stand up. Then, he heard footsteps approaching him and quickly defended himself from Loki's scepter. Clint tried to raise his gun, but Loki's grip on his hand was stronger.**

**Loki stared at the archer before saying, "You have heart." Fury was standing up near them and could only watch as Loki pointed his scepter at the center of Clint's chest.**

Several of the Avengers glared daggers at Loki's head while the rest of them growled, seething. Clint sighed and put his head on his hands.

**The glow of the Tesseract flowed inside of Clint, making his eyes glow black for a second before it turned into bright blue, the same color as the Tesseract.** **Loki grinned, satisfied to see that his power had worked. Clint put down the gun and stood straight, no restraint evident on his face.**

"I didn't want to see this again," Clint muttered so quietly, only Natasha – who was beside him, Steve – who had super hearing, and Tony – who was paying attention, heard him.

"It's alright, душенька," Natasha whispered, rubbing soothing circles on Clint's back. "You're not there right now. What happened wasn't your fault."

"But, I did it anyway," Clint remarked. "I did what I did and I could never forget that."

Natasha silently sighed, looking over at Tony for a second. The man nodded, understanding her silent message. He had a feeling that this would happen for the rest of their time here, and all of them would be mentally exhausted by the time they get back.

He really needed to build a ball pit room when this was over.

**Fury was speechless as he witnessed his agent being controlled with ease, and he was quick to snatch the Tesseract away. As Loki continued using his abilities to control the minds of several other S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, Fury firmly placed the Tesseract back into its case and tried to leave the lab.**

**"Please don't," Loki said, halting Fury in his tracks. The Asgardian slowly turned to him and said, "I still need that."**

**"This doesn't have to get any messier." Fury said, glancing behind him.**

**"Of course, it does." Loki disagreed. "I've come too far for anything else."**

**Fury was silent and slowly turned around just as Loki introduced himself. "I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."**

"I agree, but it's not the same to what you have in mind, Brother," Thor said grimly.

**Selvig looked at Loki in surprise. "Loki?" He asked, standing up from his crouched position. "Brother of Thor?"**

**"We have no quarrel with your people." Fury said.**

**"An ant has no quarrel with a boot." Loki simply answered.**

"Wait, how did he know that?" Tony turned to Thor, bemused. "You have ants and boots at Asgard?"

"No, but I have told Loki of Earth's culture once. He must've remembered my words." Thor replied to the engineer.

**Fury stared at Loki with narrowed eyes. "Are you planning to step on us?"**

**"I come with glad tidings," Loki said as he approached the director. "Of a world made free."**

**"Free from what?" Fury asked.**

**"Freedom," Loki replied, saying it as if it disgusted him. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart…"**

**Suddenly, Loki turned towards Selvig who was standing behind him and placed his scepter against Selvig's heart. Just like Clint, Selvig's eyes glowed black before it turned bright blue.**

**"You will know peace." Loki finished.**

**"Yeah, you say peace, I kind of think you mean the other thing." Fury said.**

"For once, I actually agree with you, Fury," Steve stated.

"And for once, I actually agree with  _you_ , Steve," Tony added, making everyone roll their eyes.

**Then, Clint noticed that from the vacuum chamber ceiling, the Tesseract's energy cloud rapidly was gathering into what might be an implosion.** **"Sir, Director Fury is stalling," Clint informed, approaching the demigod.**

Clint groaned. "I'll never call him that again." He said with a disgusted scowl.

"And I'll make sure of that," Natasha assured the archer.

**"This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us." Clint and Loki stared at the energy cloud before Clint added, "He means to bury us."**

**"Like The Pharaohs of Odin." Fury said.**

**"He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself." Selvig confirmed after looking at the monitor. "We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."**

**"Well, then." Loki glanced at Clint, who understood and immediately shot Fury with his gun. Fury fell to the ground and Clint grabbed the case containing the Tesseract before quickly leaving with Loki, Selvig, and other controlled S.H.I.E.L.D personnel.**

Clint winced but he said, "Is it wrong if a part of me  _doesn't_  feel guilty of doing that?"

"No worries, Legolas," Tony said to Clint. "We all do that sometimes."

"What? Shooting Fury?" Clint asked.

"No, not feeling guilty," Tony replied.

Clint chuckled at that, somehow feeling assured with Tony's ways of comforting.

**The abyss changed again into the scene of Clint, Loki and the others walking towards the parking lot of the facility.**

**"I need these vehicles," Clint said, gesturing to the cars before him. Everyone got into the car while Loki climbed on the back of it. Hill saw Loki and was confused at the unfamiliar face. "Who's that?"**

**"They didn't tell me," Clint replied, walking towards the driver's seat. Hill was a bit skeptical at them, but she still turned to leave. But she didn't get that far as Fury's voice was heard through the walkie-talkie in her hand.**

**"Hill! Do you copy?" Fury asked, breathing heavily. Loki heard the voice and sharply turned towards Hill.**

**Back at the lab, Fury slowly stood up, pulling out the bullet with his hand, still breathing heavily when he informed, "Barton has turned."**

"Unwillingly," Clint muttered.

**Just as Hill registered that, Clint shot his gun towards her but she was quick enough to roll out of the way. She hid behind a wall and shot at Clint, but the archer was already inside the car and driving out of the facility. Hill continued to shoot at the vehicle, but it didn't manage to stop them.**

**Meanwhile, Fury ran out of the lab, holding his injured side. "He's got the Tesseract! Track it down!" The director ordered through the walkie-talkie, the energy from the Tesseract growing even bigger behind him.**

**Hill slipped into a nearby Jeep and quickly followed after Clint's vehicle. As Clint proceeded to drive out of the facility, several S.H.I.E.L.D vehicles had caught up to them and the agents started to shoot at Clint's truck.**

**Loki quickly stood up and used his scepter to shoot an energy blast at one of the cars. It worked, as the car lost control and did a back flip, landing upside down on the ground, effectively blocking the way.**

**The energy from the Tesseract continued to gather, causing a big earthquake. Fury raced down the hallway, avoiding falling pipes and other stuff. In another corner of the facility, Coulson, and several other agents fell down the steps, dropping a few cases of information.**

**"Okay, let's go. No, leave it!" Coulson shouted to the agents who attempted to grab the cases with them. "Go!"**

Steve managed to smile. "Caring as ever."

"In a situation like that, Steve, I wouldn't exactly call that  _caring_ ," Natasha remarked.

**Meanwhile, Hill's Jeep emerged out of a side of Clint's truck and drove ahead of them. Then, she pulled her brake and swerved to a full 360 degrees, facing Clint's truck and driving in reverse.**

Tony's jaw dropped at the scene. "Okay, I need to tell Happy to do that later."

"Oh no, you don't," Bruce said. "Happy's already good enough."

**Clint's arm reached out the open window and he shot Hill's vehicle with his gun. Hill didn't hesitate to shoot through her windshield, opening fire on Clint and his entourage.**

**On the other hand, Coulson was on a SHIELD van, holding his walkie talkie. "We're clear upstairs, sir," Coulson informed through the device. "You need to go."**

**Fury bolted out of the facility and managed to get into a helicopter and he flew out of there just as the surface of the landing pad gave away, plunging down onto the ground.**

**Still in a chase and drive-by sequence, Clint pushed the pedal harder, which caused Hill's Jeep to wobble out of their way and put her back behind.**

**Inside the lab, the Tesseract's energy cloud suddenly shrank into a small ball of white light for a few seconds before a gigantic gust of blue energy was abruptly released, consuming the entire facility and also parts of the desert.**

**Fury watched from above, a rapid build-up into what might be an implosion. Then, the entire facility swallowed into itself, a terrifying, unimaginable implosion.**

"Woah…" Bruce breathed, slightly in awe at the sight.

**On another part of the facility, Coulson could only watch from the van as basically everything behind him collapsed into the underground.**

**The blast wave of the Tesseract caused the tunnel to cave in. Blinding crumbles of falling rock and debris fell onto Hill's vehicle, leaving her nearly trapped under the blanket of rock.**

**Clint's truck, on the other hand, managed to escape the tunnel and they drove into the desert landscape. But as they got out, Fury's helicopter appeared from above them. Clint noticed the air vehicle and swerved the car multiple times to avoid it.**

**Loki looked up just in time to see the helicopter door slide open and Fury came into view, holding a gun. Fury shot at Clint a few times, shattering the glass and blinding the archer from the road.**

"Hey! I know that's your way of payback but cut me some slack, man!" Clint shouted at Fury. Natasha cracked a smile.

**Loki scowled at Fury and shot out a blue light from his scepter towards the tail of the helicopter. The chopper caught on fire and instantly went down in a fiery ball. Fury barely managed to jump out of the chopper and land into safety before the helicopter crashed and barreled along the ground.**

**Fury was quick to recover and he shot at the Loki again, but the vehicle was too far away for the bullets to hit accurately. Loki glanced behind him before he focused back on the road.**

**Fury, agitated, stood up just as Coulson's voice was heard through the walkie talkie. "Director? Director Fury, do you copy?"**

**"The Tesseract is with the hostile force. I have men down." Fury quickly replied, glancing at the burning helicopter. "Hill?"**

**The abyss shifted and Hill was seen climbing out of the Jeep. "A lot of men still under," Hill informed, looking at the rubble behind her. "I don't know how many survivors."**

**"Sound the general call." Fury ordered the two agents. "I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase."**

**"Roger that," Hill answered.**

**"Coulson, get back to base. This is a Level Seven." Fury added. Coulson and Hill were both silent as Fury informed the duo, "As of right now, we are at war."**

"Level Seven?" Thor questioned Natasha and Clint.

"It's a clearance system of S.H.I.E.L.D's." Clint shrugged. "The higher the level, the fewer people that know the secrets."

"And you two are?" Bruce asked.

"Level Seven." Clint and Natasha answered simultaneously.

**Coulson took a brief second to take that information in before he asked Fury, "What do we do?"**

**In response, Fury slowly lowered down his walkie-talkie, his face firmly determined just a few seconds before the capitalized words of 'THE AVENGERS' appeared.**

"This is just like a normal action movie," Natasha commented. "Only a bit cooler."

"And this is when I'm gonna come in!" Tony grinned excitedly, pulling out a pair of sunglasses from his pocket. "Guys, prepare your shades because I might shine too bright for your eyes."

Most of the team rolled their eyes at their resident billionaire while Thor merely chuckled.

 _"I may not totally agree with you, Mr. Stark. But, you're right about one thing."_ Seraphina finally spoke up. _"This when all of you are going to be present."_

"You were pretty quiet back there, Seraphina," Steve noted.

_"That's because I'm not much of a commenter myself, Mr. Rogers. I only come in when I'm needed or when you ask for me."_

"Well then, I'm gonna ask you to join us, Sera dear," Tony said. "The more, the merrier."

 _"I'm already joining you, Mr. Stark."_ Seraphina chuckled before her tone got a bit more serious. _"But before we continue, I want to warn you. This is where it gets real. What you saw was just the beginning."_

The Avengers were silent, taking in her warning.

"Well, we  _did_  sign up for this," Steve said, once again glancing at his team before he smiled. "So, bring it on."

Seraphina was silent for a while, but the team could guess that she was smiling.  _"As you wish."_


	2. Assemble the Avengers : Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! This is the second chapter to this story. I know it's kinda quick but I was REALLY in the mood. After this, the updates would probably take a little longer but hopefully, it's worth the wait.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy! Oh, and I don't own a single thing other than Seraphina, my mysterious OC :3.

**The abyss changed yet again and a train moving on a railroad came into view. Then, the perspective averted into the interior of a construction building near it. Three men and a redhead woman could be seen, with the men standing around the woman, who was apparently tied to a chair.**

Natasha's lip quirked upwards, the closest thing she did similar to a smirk. "Look alive, boys. This is where I come in."

"I knew that redhead looks familiar," Tony said. "But, who are those guys again?"

"Georgi Luchkov, a colonel-general. The rest were his thugs," Natasha replied.

**One of the men slapped Natasha Romanoff's face. Natasha obviously felt the pain, but she didn't breakdown. The man in the middle smiled, amused by her performance.**

**"** **это не так, как я хотел вечером пойти** **," Luchkov said.**

"Wait, what?" Clint asked. "Why are we hearing it in Russian? Why can't it be English?"

"Because we were at Russia, идиот," Natasha elbowed him.

"Not all of us can speak in Russian," Bruce said. "I barely understood what he just said."

"He said,  _'This is not how I wanted the evening to go'_ ," Natasha explained to the doctor.

"You can't explain it every time they talk, though," Steve frowned. "Seraphina, can you translate it into English?"

 _"_ _Yes, Captain,"_  Seraphina replied.  _"From now on, the dialogue is in English."_

Steve nodded. "Thank you."

**"I know how you wanted this evening to go," Natasha said to the man, the dialogue changed into English. "Believe me, this is better."**

**"Who are you working for? Lermentov, yes?" Luchkov said as one of his men dragged Natasha's chair, balancing her off the edge of an open floor. Now, Natasha seemed scared. "Does he think we have to go through him to move our cargo?"**

**"I thought General Soholob was in charge of the export business," Natasha confessed after the man dragged her chair back to her previous position.**

**"Soholob? A bagman, a front. Your outdated information betrays you." Luchkov stated, smiling. "The famous Black Widow. And she turns out to be simply another pretty face."**

"Oh, man. He's gonna regret saying that," Clint chuckled, turning to Natasha. "How many people had said that by now?"

"Around two hundred, I think," Natasha said, smiling.

"And how many regretted it?" Steve asked, amused.

"Two hundred and seventy."

"Two hundred and seventy?" Tony said, bewildered. "What's with the extra number?"

Natasha shrugged. "They had a lot of allies nearby. Might as well make them count."

**"You really think I'm pretty?" Natasha asked.**

**One of the men immediately opened her mouth wide open while Luchkov slowly walked over to a table filled with tools.**

**"Tell Lermontov we don't need him to move the tanks. Tell him he is out. Well," Luchkov turned to her with a pair of pliers in his hand before saying, "You may have to write it down."**

**But suddenly, the sound of a cellphone vibrating came from one of the men. Everyone watched as he grabbed his phone and answered. The man was silent for a few seconds before he turned to Luchkov and said, "It's for her."**

**The man gave Luchkov the phone and the colonel-general put it near his ear. "You listen carefully-"**

**"You're at 1-14 Solenski Plaza, 3rd floor." Coulson's voice interrupted from the phone. "We have an F-22 exactly 8 miles out. Put the woman on the phone or I will blow up the block before you can make the lobby."**

Clint snorted. "Show-off."

**Luchkov stared at the phone, a bit in shock for a moment before he placed it against Natasha's ear, seeing how she's tied to a chair with her hands tied behind her back.**

**"We need you to come in," Coulson said immediately after the phone was against Natasha's ear.**

**"Are you kidding? I'm working," Natasha objected.**

**"This takes precedence," Coulson added.**

**"I'm in the middle of an interrogation," Natasha explained, glancing at Luchkov. "This moron is giving me everything."**

**Luchkov frowned, confused.**   **"** **I don't give everything." He said to his men as if he was convincing himself.**

 **In return, Natasha gives him a look** **before resuming the conversation. "Look, you can't pull me out of this right now-"**

**"Natasha," Coulson cut her off. "Barton's been compromised."**

**Natasha was silent, taking in that information. Her eyes showed various emotions regarding that sentence, although her face was blank. After a few seconds, Natasha had come to a decision. "Let me put you on hold."**

"I love you too, Tasha," Clint grinned, chuckling.

"Your friendship was already close since the beginning, wasn't it?" Steve smiled at Natasha.

"Well,  _duh_ ," Tony answered instead. "She'd do anything for Clint."

Natasha glanced at the billionaire, catching the hidden message behind what Tony had just said.

**Natasha nodded to Luchkov, signaling she was done. As Luchkov came to take back the phone, Natasha quickly hit him with her leg and headbutted him. Then, she stood up and started attacking one of Luchkov's men by kickboxing him in the face.**

**Still in a tied up position, she rolled over the other man after she tripped him. After that, she stomped the thug's foot with the leg of the chair before knocking him out with her head.**

**And Coulson was still waiting amidst of all that, seemingly unfazed at all.**

"Again, show-off," Clint muttered.

**Then, Natasha flipped over and fell down hard on the man, breaking the chair in the process. The other man tried to stop her but Natasha drop-kicked him, fell down and flipped right back up, wrapping her legs around his neck before knocking him out cold.**

**Noticing that Luchkov was starting to get up, Natasha grabbed a hanging chain and quickly wrapped Luchkov's leg with the chain and dropped him down the open floor, leaving him dangling.**

**Natasha breathed for a second, satisfied that she had finished all of them before she picked up the phone and her heels, walking away from the site.**

"I'd do that for you too, you know," Natasha said, smiling at Tony.

Said man blinked and stared at her with a calculating expression before he snorted. "Really?"

"I would," Natasha nodded.

"Yeah, sure," Tony said in a disbelieving tone. Natasha would've believed that if she hadn't seen a ghost of a smile on Tony's face. Natasha's smile grew more genuine at that.

**"Where's Barton now?" Natasha asked to the phone.**

**"We don't know," Coulson answered.**

**Natasha raised an eyebrow. "But he's alive."**

**"We think so," Coulson said, glancing at a screen that showed Clint and Natasha's fighting together, along with the words 'STRIKE TEAM : DELTA' on the side. "I'll brief you on everything when you get back. But first, we need you to talk to the big guy."**

**Natasha smiled.**   **"** **Coulson, you know that Stark trusts me about as far as he can throw me."**

"Aaand just as I finally believed you," Tony muttered in a joking tone before turning to Natasha. "Your offer earlier still stands,  _Natashalie_?"

"You know that was a year ago, Tones," Natasha said, rolling her eyes. "I don't think like that anymore."

"We  _all_  don't think like that anymore," Clint added.

**"No, I've got Stark," Coulson said. "You get the big guy."**

**Natasha halted, finally catching on.**   **She stared at the building, seemingly frozen.**   **"Боже мой."**

"Oh, he means me," Bruce muttered before he eventually understood the rest. "Wait, what do you mean,  _'Oh my God'_?"

"I thought you didn't understand Russian, Bruce." Natasha sniggered.

"Yeah, but I definitely understood that  _'Oh my God'_ ," Bruce scowled, though it was more like a pout.

**Then, the scene changed into an Indian slum at night. A little girl ran through the crowd, trying to force a way through. Then, she turned to her left and ran up a set of stairs, only to be stopped by an attending woman.**

" **तुम कौन हो?" The woman said.**  " **बाहर निकलने के लिए, यहाँ बीमारी है!"**

"What…did she say?" Thor asked, puzzled.

" _Who are you?_ " Bruce translated in a blank tone. " _Get out, there is sickness here._ "

"Your tone's not really helping, Bruce," Steve noted.

"Sera?" Tony asked.

_"Yes, Mr. Stark. Dialogue now changed into English."_

**But, the little girl ignored the woman's words because she spotted the man she was looking for.**

**Bruce Banner, their local doctor, was washing his hands with a basin.**

"Ah, Brucie!" Tony smiled. "Thought you'd never appear!"

**"I have to see the doctor! It's my father!" The little girl pleaded.**

**Bruce dried his hands and approached the child.** **"** **Calm down. What's wrong?"**

 **The girl seemed to be holding back tears.**   **"** **My father..."**

**Bruce glanced at her, seeing how the girl is staring at a few people, lying down, looking very sick.**

**"Is he like them?" Bruce asked, gesturing to the sick people. In response, the little girl held out all of the money she had in the world, which was** **_very_ ** **little.**

 **" _Please_ ** **." The little girl said.**

"Even  _I_  can't say no to that," Tony stated.

"Aye, Friend Tony," Thor nodded. "I would fail miserably to deny that small child."

"That's right. You picked a good one, Natasha," Bruce whispered to Natasha.

Steve tilted his head. "What do you mean by that?"

Natasha smiled. "You'll see."

**Bruce and the little girl hastily ran nearly to the edge of town. Bruce stopped the girl and turned around when a local government car passed by.**

**When it was gone, he quickly followed the little girl inside her house. As he walked in, the girl all but escaped through the window.**

**Bruce was left standing there like a dumbass.**

For the second time that day, the Avengers were all but laughing at the sight.

"Ah-haha-a! Oh my  _God_! T-That's priceless, Brucie! Sincerely  _priceless_! The most priceless thing out of all the priceless things in the world!" Tony doubled over and laughed at Bruce's face, who was blushing red with embarrassment.

"I'd definitely  _kill_  to see that," Clint said between laughs. "Bruce, do that again, bro. Please?"

"Uh, no thanks," Bruce replied. "I'd rather not."

"Sera darling,  _please_  tell me you are recording this?" Tony basically pleaded.

 _"_ _No worries, Mr. Stark,"_ Seraphina responded. _"I've been recording your favorite moments from the beginning. Including the time when Mr. Barton was, you said and I quote,_ _ **hugging**_ _the railing."_

Clint's face paled drastically. "Oh  _hell_  no! Seraphina, delete that at once! I'll give you my arrows, my bow, hell even my  _hair_! But do  _not_  let that recording exist!"

"Sorry, Clint. But it's six against one." Natasha smiled, clearly amused. "I bet even Sera agrees. Right, Ser?"

_"Indeed, Ms. Romanoff. It is very entertaining."_

Clint groaned and fell down on his back like he was dying. "Just kill me now."

**"Should have got paid up front, Banner," Bruce muttered to himself.**

"You weren't paid yet? The girl was holding out the money earlier," Steve asked Bruce.

"Yeah, but I'm not that kind of doctor who just takes it," Bruce replied.

"That should be your life motto, Bruce. Feature it in a book or something," Tony rolled his eyes. "I'm not that kind of doctor, yadda, yadda, yadda. By Dr. Bruce Banner."

**"You know," Bruce turned towards Natasha, who appeared from behind the curtain. "For a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle."**

**Bruce slowly lowered his bag. "Avoiding stress isn't the secret."**

**"Then, what is it?" Natasha asked. "Yoga?"**

**"You brought me to the edge of the city, smart," Bruce said, rubbing his hands nervously. The doctor walked towards a window and glanced outside. "I uh... assume the whole place is surrounded?"**

**"Just you and me," Natasha said, throwing away her scarf.**

Both Bruce and Clint snorted.

**"And your actress buddy, is she a spy too?" Bruce asked Natasha. "Do they start that young?"**

**"I did," Natasha stated, albeit a bit solemnly.**

**Bruce eyed Natasha. "Who are you?"**

**"Natasha Romanoff."**

"The one and only," Natasha said, her lips twitching upwards.

 **Bruce nodded.** **"** **Are you here to kill me, Miss Romanoff? Because that's not gonna work out for everyone."**

"That's not gonna work out for  _anyone_ ," Tony muttered.

**"No. Of course not." Natasha quickly denied. "I'm here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D."**

**"S.H.I.E.L.D," Bruce muttered, staring at the ground. "How did they find me?"**

**"We never lost you, doctor," Natasha explained. "We've kept our distance, even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent."**

**"Why?" Bruce asked.**

**"Nick Fury seems to trust you," Natasha informed the doctor. "But now we need you to come in."**

**Bruce nodded, pursing his lips.** **"** **What if I said no?"**

"Well, for one, you wouldn't meet me." Tony reasoned, counting with his fingers. "Two, you wouldn't meet all of us. Three, you wouldn't be living here. Four, I would still be dead. Five, we wouldn't get to-"

"Wa-wait, wait, hold up," Bruce interrupted, holding up a hand. "What's with number four?"

"What? You caught me and basically brought me back to life with your roar a year ago, remember?" Tony said before he paused. "Well, Big Green did that to be precise. Remind me to thank him later."

Bruce stared at Tony, dumbfounded.

"Oh yeah," Steve muttered, running a hand through his hair. " _Never_  do that again, by the way, Tony."

"I'm not planning to, Cap," Tony answered.

**"I'll persuade you," Natasha replied.**

**Bruce licked his lips, clearly nervous about the whole thing.**   **"And what if the... other guy says no?"**

**"You've been more than a year without an incident," Natasha stated, walking to a part of the house. "I don't think you wanna break that streak."**

**"Well, I don't always get what I want," Bruce said, absentmindedly rocking a baby swing.**

"Don't we all?" Clint muttered under his breath.

**"Doctor, we're facing a potential global catastrophe," Natasha informed, looking at her cell phone.**

**Bruce chuckled.** **"Well, those I actively try to avoid."**

**"This-" Natasha showed a picture of the Tesseract and placed it on the table, moving it closer to Bruce. "-is the Tesseract."**

**Bruce took out his glasses and put it on as he grabbed the cell phone and took a closer look. Natasha sat down.**

**"What does Fury want me to do?" Bruce asked, confused. "Swallow it?"**

**"He wants you to find it. It's been taken." Natasha replied. Bruce looked up to her as she explained, "It emits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace. There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that's where I'd be."**

**"So Fury isn't after the monster?" Bruce concluded.**

"Technically, he is," Tony said. "You're basically a monster at science, Brucie."

Bruce chuckled, feeling somehow comforted. "Thanks, Tony. I appreciate it."

 **Natasha shrugged.** **"Not that he's told me."**

**"And he tells you everything?" Bruce inquired.**

"No, he doesn't," Natasha said for her past self.

**"Talk to Fury," Natasha answered instead. "He needs you on this."**

**"He needs me in a cage?" Bruce asked again.**

**Natasha shook her head.**   **"No one's gonna put you in a-"**

**"STOP LYING TO ME!" Bruce shouted to Natasha.**

"...Note to self; don't piss off Bruce Banner or anyone in this room," Tony said before he paused. "Another note to self; ignore that first note and continue."

Bruce chuckled.

**The thunderous tone in his voice made Natasha quickly grab her gun and pointed it at him. Bruce, realizing what he had done, stood up straight, smiling.**

**"I'm sorry, that was mean," Bruce said. "I just wanted to see what you'd do."**

**Natasha didn't say a word as she stared at him warily, her gun still aimed at Bruce.**

**"Why don't we do this the easy way?" Bruce asked with his hands in a comforting gesture. "Where you don't use that…and the other guy doesn't make a mess? Okay?"**

**Natasha, still wary, didn't lower her gun.**   **"Natasha..." Bruce said, the first time ever he had said her name.**

**Finally, Natasha lowered her gun and spoke into her earpiece. "Stand down. We're good here."**

**Amazingly, dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D agents were surrounding the shack outside, weapons aimed at the small place.**

**Bruce looked at Natasha, charming a smile at her. "Just you and me?" Natasha fidgeted, now that she had exposed her guard down.**

"See, Steve?" Natasha inquired.

"Ah, now I get it." Steve nodded.

**Then, the abyss changed yet again. This time, it showed Fury facing several large monitors as he was in a conference with members of the World Security Council in a S.H.I.E.L.D analytical room.**

**"This is out of line, Director." One of the councilmen said. "You're dealing with forces you can't control."**

"You humans can never control the Tesseract as you please," Thor almost growled out.

**"You ever been in a war, Councilman? In a firefight?" Fury asked. "Did you feel an overabundance of control?"**

**"You saying that this Asgard has declared war on our planet?" The same councilman asked.**

"We declared no such thing," Thor growled again.

"We know, Thor," Steve said to the Asgardian. "These people are just used to judge quickly."

**"Not Asgard." Fury denied. "Loki."**

**"He can't be working alone." A councilwoman stated. "What about the other one? His brother."**

**"Our intelligence says, Thor is not a hostile." Fury informed. "But he's worlds away, we can't depend on him to help. It's up to us."**

**"Which is why you should be focusing on PHASE 2," A councilman said. "It was designed for exactly-"**

**"PHASE 2 isn't ready, our enemy is." Fury cut him off. "We need a response team."**

**The councilman was silent. "The Avengers Initiative was shut down."**

Steve, along with the rest of the team, gave that councilman a dumb look.

**"This isn't about The Avengers." Fury insisted.**

**"We're running the world's greatest covert security network and you're gonna leave the fate of human race to a handful of freaks." The councilman stated.**

"Who, in the end, managed to  _save the day_  while you were all watching from your comfortable homes," Tony muttered.

**"I'm not leaving anything to anyone." Fury said to him. "We need a response team. These people may be isolated, unbalanced even-"**

"Hey!" Both Clint and Tony shouted.

**"-but I believe with the right push they can be exactly what we need." Fury finished.**

**"You believe?" The councilwoman raised her eyebrow.**

**"War isn't won by sentiment, Director." The councilman stated.**

**"No," Fury agreed. "It's won by soldiers."**

Tony made a face. "I am  _not_ -"

"A soldier." The rest of the team answered for him simultaneously. Tony turned at them with a bewildered expression.

"You're not a soldier," Steve said, smiling at Tony. "We know, Tony."

"You've said that so many times, I'm considering to make that your motto," Clint joked.

Tony was quiet for a second before he smirked. "You guys should be grateful, then. No one ever heard me say that as often as you."

Though everyone rolled their eyes ( _again_ ) at that, the whole team silently agreed.

**Then, the scene adjusted to an old, almost WWII-esque boxing gym. Steve Rogers could be seen there, pummeling a punching bag.**

**With every swing and every punch, it was as if he was trying to fight off and repress a certain memory.**

**_Captain America ran through the forest, dodging mortars, gunfire, and the Tesseract's energy firearms._ **

**_"There's not enough time!" Memory Steve shouted. "I gotta put her in the water!"_ **

**Steve's rage kept building after each punch.**

**_Inside Red Skull's ship, Steve placed his compass with an image of Peggy Carter._ **

**_The time had come for him to crash the plane._ **

**Steve closed his eyes. Punched the bag harder and harder.**

**_"You won't be alone," Peggy in the memory said._ **

**_Inside the Red Skull's ship, said villain picked up the Tesseract._ **

**Steve furiously opened his eyes and punched the bag harder.**

**_"Oh my God!" A S.H.I.E.L.D scientist shouted._ **

**_A half-frozen Steve Roger lied down on a medical slab. Two S.H.I.E.L.D scientists ran over hi-tech devices on him._ **

**_"This guy is still ALIVE!"_ **

**Steve finally went _beserk_  and he tore the bag open, off its chain, spilling out all of the sand. The blonde man slowly stood, breathing hard as he let out seventy years of over-repressed feeling.**

The Avengers but Steve watched the whole thing, stunned.

"W-wow, Steve," Clint said eventually. "You just made me…speechless."

Steve sighed. That wasn't one of his good moments.

"I got to admit, though," Tony said. "You did better than I thought, Cap. I was expecting the bag to break apart after the first twenty punches."

"You counted?" Steve asked, surprised.

Tony nodded. "Perfect seventy, by the way."

**Steve took a few breathers for a moment before he picked up another punching bag, which was lying next to five other ones. He hooked the bag up and was already punching it again when Fury walked in.**

**"Trouble sleeping?" Fury's voice filled the empty gym.**

**Steve halted and turned to the director before he resumed punching again. "I slept for seventy years, Sir. I think I've had my fill."**

**"Then you should be out, celebrating," Fury advised. "Seeing the world."**

"Why would I celebrate when I found out I had been asleep for seventy years?" Steve muttered.

Although Steve wasn't sitting near him, Tony heard him nonetheless. "True," Tony mumbled. "But you should've at least walked around. You know, catch up on some stuff."

Steve didn't know how nor why, but Tony's words managed to make him smile. "A few?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Scratch that, a  _lot_."

**Steve stopped punching altogether and slowly walked over to the bench, unraveling the white tape off his hands.**

**"When I went under, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won," Steve said to Fury behind him. "They didn't say what we lost."**

**"We've made some mistakes along the way." Fury admitted. "Some very recently."**

**Steve glanced at Fury.** **"You here with a mission, sir?"**

**"I am." Fury stated.**

**"Trying to get me back in the world?" Steve asked.**

**"Trying to save it." Fury corrected, handing over a file to Steve.**

**Steve stared at the file that showed a picture of the Tesseract, something he immediately recognized, and grabbed it. "HYDRA's secret weapon."**

**"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you." Fury informed. Steve's head perked up at the familiar name.**

Tony's lip twitched at the mention of his father, and his expression hardened. Steve and Natasha glanced at him in concern.

**"He thought what we think, the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy." Fury explained. "That's something the world sorely needs."**

"Um, not really," Bruce voiced out.

**"Who took it from you?" Steve asked, handing back the file.**

**"He's called Loki," Fury replied. "He's…not from around here."**

"That's the easy way of telling a man from the '40s that an alien was real and it stole a weapon of mass destruction," Tony smirked.

"Shut up," Steve said half-heartedly.

**"There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in." Fury continued. "The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."**

**"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me," Steve said, standing up.**

"Oh man, you must've regretted saying that, Cap," Clint laughed.

"That's  _the_  perfect blackmail material!" Tony shouted, rising to his feet. "Sera, my dear, please add that to the list."

_"Already done, Mr. Stark."_

"What the-oh,  _come on_!" Steve said, exasperated. "I don't even get a say in this!"

"Again, Steve. It's six against one," Natasha said with an amused smile. "You're going to lose anyway."

"Um, I didn't take part in this?" Bruce said awkwardly.

"Oh shush, Banner," Clint said.

**"Ten bucks says you're wrong." Fury bet.**

"You just lost ten bucks, Cap," Clint hummed. "Shame, you could've bought like…four or five pepperoni pizzas with that."

**Fury watched as Steve turned around and grabbed a punching bag. "There's a debriefing package waiting for you back at your apartment."**

**Steve didn't say anything and merely made his way out of the gym.**

**"Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?" Fury asked again.**

**"You should have left it in the ocean." Steve simply said.**

"You should've told that to my dad," Tony scowled. "He was the one who found it."

**Then, the scene changed again. It shifted to the sight of ocean water.**

**Tony Stark, in his Iron Man suit, came into view. He could be seen cutting a pipeline transport with a laser from his gauntlet.**

" _Finally_!" Tony all but shouted. "Sera, what took you so long?"

_"My apologies, Mr. Stark. I have no control over the appearance order. I can only control the sound."_

"Well, whatever," Tony waved her off. "The point is, the one and only Tony Stark has  _finally_  appeared, people!"

**When it came off, he replaced it with a Stark energy reactor. After making sure that it lit up and was working, Iron Man rocketed out of the water and quickly flew towards Stark Tower.**

**"Good to go on this end. The rest is up to you," Tony said as he flew above the streets of New York.**

**"You disconnected the transmission lines?" Pepper asked on the other line. "Are we off the grid?"**

**The scene transferred into the inside of Tony's suit. Pepper could be seen on Tony's HUD monitor.**

**"Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy," Tony answered.**

**"Well, assuming the arc reactor takes over and it actually works?" Pepper said.**

**"I assume," Tony said just as the Stark Tower came into view. "Light her up."**

**As Iron Man flew to the Stark Tower building, the power was switched on and the 'STARK' sign lit up.**

**"How does it look?" Pepper sounded almost breathless.**

**"Like Christmas, but with more..." Tony paused. "Me."**

"Figured you'd say that," Bruce elbowed Tony.

"That's  _so_  Tony," Clint added.

**"We've got to go wider on the public awareness campaign. You need to do some press." Pepper informed the billionaire. "I'm in DC tomorrow. I'm working on the zoning for the next three buildings."**

**"Pepper, you're killing me," Tony said as he approached the landing pad. "The moment, remember? Enjoy the moment."**

**"Get in here and I will." Pepper practically could be _heard_  smiling.**

**Then, Tony eventually touched down on the pad and immediately, some hi-tech gauntlet of gadgets started taking off his suit one piece at a time.**

**_"Sir, Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D is on the line,"_  J.A.R.V.I.S informed him.**

"Ah, J.A.R.V.I.S," Tony mumbled. "How I miss your voice now."

 **"** **I'm not in," Tony said just as his faceplate was lifted. "I'm actually out."**

"Hilarious, Tony," Bruce remarked.

**_"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting,"_  J.A.R.V.I.S said again.**

**"** **Grow a spine, J.A.R.V.I.S," Tony merely said as he walked inside the penthouse. "I got a date."**

"Aw, our little kid's growing up," Clint smirked.

Tony turned to Clint with a bewildered look. "Little k-Barton, I am  _older_  than you!"

"Yeah, but you're basically the kid of the group, Tones," Clint said casually. "It's six against one. Sera?"

_"I completely agree, Mr. Barton. And, I am recording this as we speak."_

"What the-Sera!" Tony turned above him. "I thought you only record whatever we're watching now!"

Sera had the  _nerve_  to giggle at Tony. _"I never said that, Mr. Stark."_

Tony groaned. "Oh,  _come on_!"

**"Levels are holding steady," Pepper said, staring at the monitor before her. "I think."**

**"Of course they are, I was directly involved," Tony said, approaching her while removing his earpiece and putting it on the table. "Which brings me to my next question: how does it feel to be a genius?"**

**"Well," Pepper smiled, turning around while Tony shut off the monitor behind her. "I really wouldn't know now, would I?"**

**"What do you mean? All this-" Tony gestured to the building. "-came from you."**

**"No." Pepper shook her head. "All this came from that." She pointed her finger at the arc reactor on Tony's chest.**

"She's actually right," Steve said, turning to Tony. "If you hadn't built the Iron Man suit, the Avengers wouldn't have existed."

"Um, no," Tony denied. "The Avengers Initiative already existed  _before_  my field trip to Afghanistan."

**"Give yourself some credit, please. Stark Tower is your baby," Tony said, placing his hands on Pepper's arms. "Give yourself... twelve percent of the credit."**

**The moment was instantly broken.** **"Twelve percent?" Pepper asked, disbelieving.**

"Way to ruin the moment, Tony," Bruce said, chuckling.

**"An argument can be made for fifteen." Tony quickly said as Pepper walked ahead of him to the lounging area.**

**"Twelve percent?" Pepper repeated again. "For my baby?"**

**"Well, I did do all the heavy lifting. Literally, I lifted the heavy things." Tony reasoned as Pepper sat down and grabbed an empty glass and a bottle of champagne. "And sorry, but the security snafu? That was on you. My private elevator-"**

**"You mean _our_  elevator?" Pepper inquired, pouring herself a glass of champagne.**

"Oh,  _burn_!" Clint laughed.

**"-was teeming with sweaty workmen." Tony finished.**

**Pepper merely raised her eyebrows and smiled as she poured a glass of champagne for Tony.**

**"I'm going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?" Tony asked, sitting down across from Pepper.**

**Pepper hummed, giving Tony his glass.** **"Not gonna be that subtle."**

**"I'll tell you what," Tony said. "Next building's gonna say 'Potts' on the tower."**

"Potts Tower?" Steve murmured.

"No offense, Tony, but the name alone sounds weird," Clint said to the raven-haired.

"It sounds strange, indeed," Thor agreed.

**"On the lease," Pepper smiled, moving her glass closer to Tony's for a toast.**

**Tony hesitated and retracted his hand.** **"Call your mom, can you bunk over?"**

 **Pepper laughed just as J.A.R.V.I.S alerted them to the situation.** _**"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overwritten."** _

**Tony rolled his eyes, knowing what was about to come.**

**Just like what J.A.R.V.I.S had warned them, Coulson's voice came through Tony's phone.** **"Mr. Stark, we need to talk."**

**Tony grabbed his phone and merely said, "You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark." Pepper giggled just as Tony resumed, "Please leave a message."**

"Please don't say that to Fury when there's a mission," Steve told Tony.

Tony smirked. "No promises, Cap."

"Meaning that he'll do it," Bruce said, shaking his head. "Great."

**"This is urgent." Coulson reasoned through the phone.**

**"Then leave it urgently," Tony answered.**

**At that moment, the elevator door opened and Coulson appeared, holding a phone near his ear.**

**"Security breach," Tony said, turning to Pepper. "That's on you."**

**"Mr. Stark," Coulson said, entering the penthouse.**

**"Phil! Come in!" Pepper smiled, standing up.**

**Tony's face morphed into confusion as he followed Pepper.** **"Phil?"**

"You know, I never called him that," Natasha stated.

"Same," Steve nodded. "I always went with Coulson."

"I only called him that once," Tony recalled. "Never again, I think."

**"I can't stay," Coulson said.**

**"Uh, his first name is Agent," Tony said, walking behind Pepper.**

**"Come on in, we're celebrating." Pepper offered, holding her glass of champagne.**

**"Which is why he can't stay," Tony muttered before a fake smile was evident on his face as he stood before Phi- _Coulson_.**

**"We need you to look this over-" Coulson said, holding out a file towards Tony. "-as soon as possible."**

**Tony stared at the file intently before he said,** **"I don't like being handed things."**

"You know, you never really told us the reason for that," Steve said to Tony.

"Just accept it, Cap. It's one of my weird traits," Tony answered without looking at Steve.

"I can't accept that. Not unless I know why," Steve insisted.

Tony raised an eyebrow at Steve and sighed. He already got  _this_  close with these guys, might as well tell them. "Fine. But raincheck after this is done."

"Deal," Steve smiled.

**"That's fine, `cause I love to be handed things." Pepper quickly interjected, noticing Tony's subtle sign of discomfort. "So, let's trade."**

**Pepper gave her glass of champagne to Coulson in trade for the file and Pepper quickly took Tony's glass of champagne from his hand and gave him the file, leaving him no room to protest.**

**"Thank you," Pepper said, taking a sip from Tony's glass.**

**Tony stared at the file again, looking dejected.**   **"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday."**

**"This isn't a consultation," Phi- _Coulson_  informed him.**

**"Is this about the Avengers?" Pepper asked. At the look Coulson gave her, she quickly added, "Which I know nothing about."**

**Tony gave Coulson a look before he walked back to the table.**   **"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought," Tony said, glancing back at Coulson. "And I didn't even qualify."**

**Pepper blinked. "I didn't know that either."**

"You didn't?" Bruce blinked.

" _I_  didn't. But, Iron Man did," Tony corrected.

"Huh?" Clint frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Ask Natashalie over there," Tony advised, pointing at Natasha.

The girl was silent, frowning guiltily. "A year ago, I wrote in Tony's report that Iron Man was recommended for the Avengers….But, Tony Stark wasn't."

"Wait, what?" Steve asked, confused. "But, they're the same person!"

"Apparently, they didn't  _seem_  to be," Tony answered for him.

"Tones, I'm sorry. I was wrong about you," Natasha confessed.

Tony stared at her warily before he shrugged. "No worries, Nat. But, there  _was_  some truth in your report."

"Truth?" Thor asked. "And,what may that be, Tony?"

**"Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others?" Tony said, daring Coulson to say otherwise.**

"Yeah,  _that's_  the truth," Tony answered.

Steve frowned. "You know you're not like that at all now, right?"

Tony gave him a look. "I'm still like that, Cap. I don't know for the self-obsessed part, you guys can decide for the team player part, but I'm still volatile at least."

The whole team exchanged glances, uncertain of what to say.

**"That I did know." Pepper agreed.**

"See?" Tony proved his point. "Even Pepper agrees!"

**"This isn't about personality profiles anymore," Coulson explained.**

Clint could've kissed Coulson right there and then. "I second that!" Clint said, quickly raising his hand.

Natasha stared at him and quickly caught up. "Me too," She smiled, doing the same. The rest except for Tony smiled and raised their hands at the statement as well.

Tony, instead of a hand, raised his eyebrow. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're with Coulson on this one," Bruce said to the billionaire. "We don't care about the personality profiles nor the written reports."

"We've seen the mighty Tony Stark ourselves. We have no need for those," Thor agreed.

"So, your point is?" Tony inquired.

"The point is," Steve smiled. "Now that we don't care about reports or profiles, we can decide ourselves if Tony Stark is qualified for the Avengers."

Tony froze. A part of him instantly expected them to kick him out of the team. But Tony quickly ignored that and carefully asked, "And…what's your decision?"

"Well, of course,  _yes_!" Clint shouted. "Jesus, Tony, for a genius you can be so naïve."

" _Hey_!" Tony shouted, though for some reason a  _very_  relieved smile emerged on his face.

"Seraphina, did you get that?" Bruce asked.

 _"Yes, Doctor. Everything was recorded,"_  Seraphina answered.

Tony turned sharply above him. "What!? No fair, Sera! Clint, Steve, and Bruce didn't get recorded twice, why  _me_!?"

"Because you're you, Tony," Steve smiled as if that answer explained it all.

**"Whatever," Tony said, placing the file on the table. "Miss Potts, got a second?"**

**"Half a mo," Pepper whispered to Coulson before sauntering over to where Tony was.**

**"You know," Tony said, placing the file into his own database when Pepper approached him. "I thought we were having a moment."**

**"I was having twelve percent of a moment," Pepper said, giving Tony a look.**

"Oh,  _burn_!" Clint teased again.

**Tony turned to her, a bit annoyed at the number. He was obviously starting to regret ever saying that comment.**

**"This seems serious," Pepper said, glancing at Coulson behind them. "Phil's pretty shaken."**

"I can't blame him," Bruce said. "After what happened in Mexico and all."

**"How did you notice?" Tony asked, absentmindedly. "Why is he 'Phil'?"**

**"What is all this?" Pepper asked, looking at the file.**

**"This is, uh..." Tony expanded his arms and different profiles appeared in holographic form, floating in the air before Tony and Pepper. "This."**

**Screens appeared of Captain America in action, the Hulk roaring as he attacked the army at Culver University, Thor fighting the Destroyer and another of Loki and the Tesseract, to which Tony and Pepper looked on in awe.**

Thor blinked. "I didn't know they had footage of me."

"Well, these guys are used to keeping it a secret," Tony explained.

"How did they get that footage anyway?" Steve asked. "They weren't even there."

**"I'm going to take the jet to D.C. tonight." Pepper finally decided.**

**"Tomorrow." Tony quickly objected.**

**"You have homework," Pepper reasoned to the billionaire. "You have a lot of homework."**

"What else is new?" Clint rolled his eyes. "Tony  _always_  has homework."

"I'm a consultant, Legolas," Tony said. "That's kinda in the description,"

"But, you're an Avenger," Steve frowned.

"I was a consultant  _before_  I became an Avenger, Steve," Tony reminded. "And, that was just…two minutes ago."

**"Well, what if I didn't?" Tony asked, turning to her.**

**"If you didn't?" Pepper smiled, raising an eyebrow. "You mean if you finished?" When Tony nodded, a smile emerged on her face. "Well, um...then..."**

**Pepper leaned closer to Tony and whispered something in his ear. Apparently, it was a good thing because Tony's jaw dropped, his lips forming a huge smile. Coulson fidgeted, looking away in embarrassment.**

"I  _don't_  want to know what she just said," Clint muttered.

**"Square deal," Tony said when Pepper was finished. "Fly safe."**

**Pepper smiled and quickly kissed Tony on the lips.**

"Aw, how romantic," Natasha smiled while Steve, Thor, and Bruce politely looked away. Clint just stared at the scene blankly before a hand covered his eyes out of nowhere. "What the-"

"PG-13, Barton," Tony said. "No looking until you're older than me, which is…never."

"Come  _on_ , Tones!" Clint whined, trying to remove the hand. "I've seen worse."

**"Work hard." Pepper whispered once they pulled back. Tony watched as she approached Coulson and asked, "So, any chance you're driving by LaGuardia?"**

**"I can drop you." Coulson offered.**

**"Fantastic," Pepper said as they both walked over to the elevator. "I want to hear about the cellist. Is that still a thing?"**

**"She moved back to Portland," Coulson replied.**

**"What? Boo!"**

"You didn't pay attention to any of that, did you?" Bruce asked.

Tony just shrugged.

**Meanwhile, Tony stared at the small projection of the Tesseract and grabbed it from the holographic screen.**

"I didn't know you can do that, friend Tony," Thor said.

**Tony's face implied that he was both pensive and concerned as he held the small Tesseract on his palm.**

"Okay, Sera honey," Tony said immediately. "Quick question; how many recordings did you make?"

 _"Around four, Mr. Stark,"_ Seraphina replied. _"One of Mr. Barton, one of Dr. Banner, one of Mr. Rogers and two of Mr. Sta-oh, my apologies. Make that five recordings, sir,"_

"Great," Tony sighed. "And there's two of me."

"What will we watch next, Ser?" Clint asked.

 _"That, Mr. Barton-"_ Seraphina, just like Pepper, could be  _heard_  smiling. _"-is for me to know and for you to find out."_

Clint groaned again. "Aw, not the riddles, Sera!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all of the languages other than English that you might not know, here's the translation.
> 
> "это не так, как я хотел вечером пойти" (Russian) : This is not how I wanted the evening to go.
> 
> "Боже мой" (Russian) : Oh my God.
> 
> "идиот" (Russian) : Idiot.
> 
> "तुम कौन हो? बाहर निकलने के लिए, यहाँ बीमारी है!" (Hindi) : Who are you? Get out, there is sickness here!
> 
> Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoyed! Oh, and reviews would be very much appreciated :D


	3. Assemble the Avengers : Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long, guys! I can get distracted very easily sometimes. But with no further ado, here's the next chapter!
> 
> AND I'M SORRY IF IT IS SHORTER THAN THE PREVIOUS ONES AND IF I MADE ANY MISTAKES :(

**The abyss before them changed yet again. It blurred into a sight of the ocean, and a quinjet was seen flying quite fast above it. Then, the view averted to the interior of the plane.**

**Two pilots maneuvered the quinjet from the cockpit and Coulson was sitting behind them as the flight engineer, with Steve not too far from him, holding a tablet in his hands.**

**"We're about forty minutes out from base, sir." One of the pilots informed. Coulson nodded and stood up from his seat as he walked over to where Steve was sitting.**

**"So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?" Steve asked without looking up from the tablet before him as Coulson approached.**

" _Hey_ ," Bruce turned to Steve, offended.

"Sorry, Bruce," Steve shrugged and gave the doctor a sheepish half-grin. "I didn't know you back then."

Clint glanced at them and shook his head fondly. "Cap, you flash that look to someone else and they won't even care if you accidentally burned their house. They'll be too busy  _swooning_."

**"A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero," Coulson notified. "Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."**

Tony scoffed at the familiar statement while rolling his eyes simultaneously. The others frowned, though, 'cause they knew how many times Howard had said that to Tony when he was young, and how Tony didn't like it.

**On the tablet, the Hulk was shown roaring with fury as he slammed a Jeep apart.**

**Steve frowned.** **"** **Didn't really go his way, did it?"**

"Steve, stop pointing out the obvious," Natasha scolded. "No offense, Bruce."

"It's fine, Natasha," Bruce waved a hand at her. "I was about to say the same thing myself."

**"Not so much," Coulson shook his head. "When he's not that thing, though, the guy's like a Stephen Hawking."**

Bruce blinked and he lowered his head sheepishly. Nobody had ever said that about him before, well not counting Tony's  _"I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."_

But even then, he hadn't realized it was a compliment until  _hours_  later.

**Steve looked up at Coulson, raising his eyebrows in confusion.**

"Oh yeah, I forgot you're a grandpa, Cap," Tony smirked. "Long story short, Stephen Hawking is-"

"I know who he is  _now_ , Tony," Steve cut the billionaire off. "I don't need an explanation."

"Wha-You do?" Clint asked, genuinely surprised. "When? How?"

"I asked J.A.R.V.I.S once, he made me watch a film about the guy," Steve replied.

"J.A.R.V.I.S did?" Tony blinked like a surprised yet proud father of his son.

Clint, though, stared at Steve in shock. "Aw, man!  _I_  was gonna show you that!"

 **"** **He's like…a smart person," Coulson rephrased awkwardly. Steve nodded, at least he understood** **_that_ ** **, and went back to watching the tablet.**

**"I gotta say," Coulson said, smiling. "It's an honor to meet you…officially."**

" _Oh_ , here we go," Clint groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"What?" Steve furrowed his eyebrows. "What is it?"

"Coulson's fanboy side is showing, Steve," Natasha elbowed him, smiling in amusement. Steve blushed as he remembered what happened next.

Clint sighed, putting a hand through his hair. "This is gonna be  _embarrassing_."

**Steve seemed surprised by the sudden statement, but being the good man he was he turned to Coulson and gave him a half (albeit confused) smile.**

**"I sort of met you," Coulson added. "I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping."**

Tony choked on his spit for a few seconds before he openly laughed. "O-Oh man. Agent, that is  _priceless!_ "

"How many times have you said that word?" Bruce asked at Tony.

"I don't know nor do I care," Tony mumbled after he was done dying from laughter. "Cause that's just hilarious!"

"I agree. Friend Coulson should've… _rephrased_  his speech slightly," Thor said with an amused grin.

Clint groaned again, only louder this time. "Man, second-hand embarrassment is  _awful_."

Natasha merely smiled and patted the archer's back. "Sera?"

 _"_ _Already recorded, Ms. Romanoff,"_ Seraphina answered.

"Wait," Steve said. "Seraphina, did you record Coulson or us?"

 _"_ _That, Mr. Rogers, is-"_

"-for you to know and for us to find out," Clint repeated Seraphina's earlier words. "We know, Ser."

 _"_ _Actually, Mr. Barton. I was gonna say 'classified',"_ Seraphina corrected. _"But, that can work as well."_

"Nice guessing attempts, Barton," Tony smirked knowingly.

"Shut up, Stark."

**That made Steve's half-smile disappear and the super-soldier seemed to mentally sigh. He put the tablet aside and stood up, walking over to the cockpit with Coulson following.**

**Coulson quickly noticed where he went horribly wrong and he immediately tried to fix his mistake.** **"** **I mean, I was-I was present while you were unconscious from the ice," the agent stuttered, standing beside Steve. "You know, it's really, it's just a... just a huge** **_honor_ ** **to have you on board."**

"Nice try, Agent," Tony said, sniggering. "A for effort."

"Though, I gotta admit, he's kind of adorable like that," Natasha smiled. Clint sharply turned to her, faking a surprised look.

 **"** W **ell, I hope I'm the man for the job," Steve stated, gazing at the ocean.**

**"Oh, you are. Absolutely," Coulson reassured the super-soldier. "We've made some modifications to the uniform," The agent's face was a bit sheepish when he added, "I had a little design input."**

"A  _little?_ " Clint snorted while Natasha let out a giggle. "Oh yeah, eighty-five percent of the whole design is not big  _at all_."

**"The uniform?" Steve frowned at Coulson. "Aren't the stars and stripes a little...," The blonde man trailed off, trying to find the perfect word, "Old fashioned?"**

**Coulson lowered his head in the slightest, his fanboy side disappearing. "With everything that's happening…and the things that are about to come to light," Coulson looked up and locked gazes with Steve as he said, "People might just need a little old-fashioned."**

**Steve pursed his lips silently, taking in Coulson's sentiment.**

"He's actually right, Cap," Tony said, turning to Steve. "We all need a grandpa once in a while."

" _Tony_ …" Steve grumbled, face-palming, though it didn't hide the small smile on his face.

**Then, the abyss slowly blurred and changed into the sight of several soldiers running in an underground lab. A lot of people walked around the place and Selvig could be seen tinkering around with a certain device along with a number of other people.**

Clint tensed. "I remember this place," The archer muttered.

**Slowly, the perspective averted to Loki sitting not a few feet away.**

"Loki," Thor whispered.

**Loki watched in slight interest at whatever Selvig was doing before he closed his eyes and seemed to start meditating as the scepter glowed and materialized him back into the throne room of the mysterious figure earlier, fully armed with his horned helmet and armor.**

**"The Chitauri grow restless." The figure said, seemingly not quite happy himself.**

**"Let them gird themselves," Loki answered. "I will lead them into glorious battle."**

**"** **Battle?" The figure questioned. "Against the meager might of**   ** _Earth_ ** **?"**

"Again, what's wrong with Earth?" Tony asked in frustration. "I can understand if you meant the humans on it, but the planet itself did  _no wrong_."

"Wow, Tony," Bruce muttered. "That's…comforting."

"Your welcome, Big Green."

**"Glorious, not lengthy," Loki informed him. "If your force is as formidable as you claim."**

"Well, he's right about the 'not lengthy' part, at least," Natasha spoke up. "It didn't last longer than two…three hours right?"

"I think so," Clint muttered.

 **"** **You question us? You question**   ** _him!?_ ** **" The figure half-shouted, looking at Loki like he'd gone mad. "He, who put the scepter in your hand, who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out,** **_defeated_ ** **?"**

"Who's  _he_?" Steve furrowed his eyebrows.

"Sadly, I do not know, Friend Steve," Thor shook his head solemnly. " _He_  is a mystery to me as well as to all of you."

 **"** **I was a king!" Loki yelled back. "The rightful king of Asgard…** **_betrayed_ ** **."**

"Oh, brother…" Thor mumbled, looking much like a kicked, blonde puppy.

 **"** **Your ambition is little and born of childish need," The figure noted. "We look beyond the Earth to greater worlds the Tesseract will unveil."**

**Loki stared at him questioningly. "You don't have the Tesseract yet."**

Clint couldn't hold back his chuckle. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but  _burn!_ "

**That apparently was the last straw, as the figure quickly ran over to attack Loki. But he immediately halted when Loki pointed the edge of his scepter at him.**

**"I don't threaten," The Asgardian calmly notified. "But until I open the doors until your force is mine to command, you are but words."**

**"...** **You will have your war, Asgardian," The figure eventually said, lowering his hands and slowly circling Loki. "If you fail…if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where** **_he_ ** **can't find you."**

 **Loki stood still, his face blank yet his eyes rigid as the figure whispered, "You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as** **_pain_ ** **."**

"I shall say the same thing to you, mysterious figure," Thor threatened, standing up. "Don't you  _dare_  harm my only brother."

**Simultaneously, the figure placed his hand on Loki's head and unceremoniously transported him back to Earth. Loki hissed from the force and pressure and he slowly opened his eyes, looking more than slightly shaken from that interaction.**

The Avengers were all but silent, trying to comprehend what they had just seen.

"I-I didn't know about this…" Clint confessed with his eyes wide in disbelief.

"No one did," Natasha added quietly.

"I guess…we're not the only victims back then," Tony slowly stated, frowning.

Thor remained silent, balling his two fists in anger and regret. When all of this is done, he would have a  _talk_  with both Loki and their father, Odin, later.

**On the other hand, the quinjet was seen landing down a massive battleship known as the helicarrier. Agent Coulson and Steve both walked out of the jet and were met with an approaching Natasha.**

**"Agent Romanoff," Coulson said as Natasha stood before them, gesturing at Steve. "Captain Rogers."**

**"Ma'am," Steve nodded at the red-haired agent.**

**"Hi," Natasha answered quickly before turning to Coulson. "They need you on the bridge. They're starting the face trace."**

"You  _still_  call people that?" Tony asked incredulously. "No need for formalities here, Capsicle."

"Yeah, but you know what they say," Steve shrugged. "Old habits die hard."

**Coulson nodded. "See you there." He said to Steve before he started walking away from them.**

**Natasha and Steve looked at each other for a brief moment, before Natasha motioned Steve to follow her towards the railing of the ship.**

**"There was quite the buzz around here, finding you on the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon," Natasha informed, glancing at the super-soldier. "Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"**

" **Trading cards?" Steve asked, confused.**

**"They're vintage, he's very proud," Natasha stated.**

"Did you?" Natasha glanced at him, her face questioning.

"…I did," Steve slowly nodded with a smile, albeit a somber one. "I signed all of them."

"Good," Clint said out of the blue. "Cause if you didn't, I'd kill you myself, Cap,"

Steve smiled, despite the threat. "Good to know, Barton."

**A few yards away, Bruce was nervously standing near a S.H.I.E.L.D jet when Steve recognized him and called out to the man.**

**"Dr. Banner," Steve said, walking up to Bruce.**

**Bruce noticed the blond man and walked towards him, both of them meeting halfway. "Yeah, hi," Bruce greeted, shaking Steve's hand. "They told me you'd be coming."**

**"Word is you can find the cube," Steve added, pulling his hand away.**

**Bruce held his hands nervously again as he looked at his surroundings. "Is that the only word on me?"**

**"Only word I care about." Steve quickly replied.**

"That's…harsh, Steve," Clint managed to find the word.

"I second that," Tony scowled, turning to the blond. "I mean, there could've been word that 'Dr. Banner's awesome as hell' but you'd say you don't care."

"I barely knew him at the time, guys. Cut me some slack," Steve smiled, shaking his head. "Sorry Bruce, by the way."

"It's fine," Bruce chuckled as well. "I already forgot that anyway."

**Bruce nodded, slowly deducing that statement. "Must be strange for you, all of-" Bruce gesturing to the activities around them. "-…this."**

**"Well, this is actually kind of familiar." Steve notified the doctor, casually slipping his hands into his pockets as he surveyed the people.**

**"Gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in a minute," Natasha informed the two men. "It's going to get a little hard to breathe."**

**Not a second later, the helicarrier started to shake as commands blared for the flight crew to secure the deck.**

**"Is this is a submarine?" Steve questioned, recognizing the familiar sound of engines.**

Clint snorted. "You got an A for imagination, Cap. F for the answer, though."

**Bruce half-snorted. "Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurized, metal container?"**

"Better, Brucie!" Tony grinned. "They want you in a  _flying_ , pressurized, metal container!"

"That's worse, actually," Bruce mumbled.

**Both of them slowly walked to the edge of the helicarrier to look closer. The two men were surprised to see four huge lift fans emerge from the water and start to lift the helicarrier into the air.**

**Bruce and Steve took a step back, the latter looking at the fan in awe while Bruce smiled. "No, no. This is** **_much_ ** **worse."**

"See? I told you," Bruce added.

**Then, the abyss adapted into Bruce and Steve following Natasha as she walked into the bridge of the ship. It was a flurry of activity, dozens of agents sat before their viewscreens as they prepared to take off.**

**Steve smiled, looking around in nostalgia and awe while Bruce was retreating to the back of the room, eyeing the security guards near the exit nervously.**

**Meanwhile, Agent Hill was seen shouting instructions to them before she turned to Fury, who was at the command center.**

**"We're at level, sir," Hill informed the director.**

**"Good," Fury said. "Let's vanish."**

"You never managed to do that, Fury," Tony said, shrugging. "Not from my radar, anyway."

"And, you take pride in that, huh?" Bruce inquired at Tony.

The latter smirked. "Well,  _duh_."

**Outside, the helicarrier rose high into the sky. Simultaneously, the entire ship was quickly covered in reflecting mirrors, resulting in the ship vanishing into the clear daylight.**

**Back inside, Fury walked away from his station and approached the two men waiting for him.**

**"Gentlemen," Fury greeted the future members of his response team.**

**Steve walked over to Fury and handed him ten bucks, referring to Fury's earlier bet at the gym. Fury accepted the money, eyeing it for a moment prior to the director walking over to Bruce next.**

"Wait, was that money from the '40s?" Clint asked, smirking.

"No," Steve said, rolling his eyes. "Fury already gave me 21st-century money beforehand."

"And what's your impression on them, Steve?" Natasha questioned.

"Uh…they're better than back in the day," Steve notified. "And, they're still green."

Tony snorted. "Of course, they are, Cap. What did you expect, a red-white-blue flag?"

"I'm not gonna answer that."

**"Doctor, thank you for coming." Fury said, holding out his hand.**

**Bruce eyed the hand for a second and shook it, albeit a bit reluctantly. "Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh... how long am I staying?"**

**"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind." Fury replied.**

" **Where are you with that?" Bruce asked, walking closer to the agents below them.**

**Fury merely gestured at Coulson to explain. The agent didn't disappoint as he crossed his arms and quickly informed, "We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops."**

**Natasha crouched near a monitor and pulled up a picture of Clint as Coulson added, "If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."**

**"That's still not gonna find them in time," Natasha spoke up.**

"That's still not gonna find  _me_  in time," Clint smirked because he knew better. "Aw, Nat! You shouldn't have!"

"Yeah, you're right," Natasha sighed. "I shouldn't have."

"I knew you lo-wait, what? Whaddya mean by  _that_?"

Tony couldn't help but smirk. He was about to say that both of them were 'lovebirds' but the billionaire thought better of it. After all, pissing off not one but  _two_  assassins in a row was just plain suicide.

**"You have to narrow the field," Bruce mumbled, turning to Fury. "How many spectrometers do you have access to?"**

**"How many are there?" Fury asked back.**

"Something tells me that he didn't know anything I said," Bruce smiled.

**"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays," Bruce notified as he took off his jacket and folded it. "I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places."**

**Both Fury and Coulson nodded, although their faces showed that they didn't understand a piece of what Bruce just said.**

"Aye. Indeed, you're right, Friend Bruce," Thor chuckled.

**"Do you have somewhere for me to work?" Bruce inquired next.**

**"Agent Romanoff," Fury called. "Would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please?"**

**Natasha nodded and walked away with Bruce following not far behind.**

**"You're gonna love it, Doc," Natasha said as they walked down the hallway. "We got all the toys."**

"Uh, no you didn't," Tony exclaimed, offended. " _I_  got all the toys. Actually, those are  _my_  toys!"

"Yeah, we know, Tony," Natasha answered. "A slip of the tongue."

Somehow, Tony didn't believe that.

**Back at the underground lab, Selvig and several scientists were working around the CMS device. Clint was tapping a tablet in his hands not far away.**

**"Put it over there!" Selvig directed to some scientists as he walked over to Clint. "Where did you find all these people?"**

**"S.H.I.E.L.D has no shortage of enemies, Doctor," Clint murmured, not looking up from the tablet.**

"Of course, I'd gather those people, who else would?" Clint muttered under his breath.

**Then, Clint turned the tablet around and showed a screen showing information about iridium along with the profile of Dr. Heinrich Schãfer. "Is this the stuff you need?"**

" **Yeah, iridium. It's found in meteorites, it forms anti-protons," Selvig explained with a vague gesture by his hands. "It's very hard to get hold of."**

**"Especially if S.H.I.E.L.D knows you need it," Clint added.**

"Please tell me you knew we needed it," Clint whispered to Natasha.

"Don't worry, дорогая," Natasha smiled. "We knew."

**"Well, I didn't know!" Selvig reasoned. Then, he noticed Loki approaching them and smiled. "Hey! The Tesseract is showing me so much. It's more than just knowledge, it's...truth."**

"Selvig, my friend," Thor said. "That way of speaking…does not suit you."

"For once, Thor," Tony mumbled. "I actually agree."

**"I know," Loki smiled, turning to Clint beside him. "What did it show you, Agent Barton?"**

**Clint turned around with a blank face and replied, "My next target."**

Clint groaned. "I knew I'd say that."

**Loki nodded. "Tell me what you need."**

**"I'll need a distraction," Clint said, walking over to a table near them. The archer quickly grabbed his bow, turned to Loki and added, "And an eyeball."**

"An eyeball?" Bruce questioned Clint.

"Believe me, Bruce," Clint said, shaking his head. "You don't want to know."

**Meanwhile on the helicarrier, Coulson and Steve were standing side by side as they waited to locate Loki using satellite facial recognition.**

**"I mean, if it's not too much trouble," Coulson muttered, glancing at Steve.**

**"No, no. It's fine." Steve reassured, crossing his arms.**

" _Again_ , Coulson? Really?" Clint asked.

"You can't blame him, birdbrain," Tony said. "His childhood hero was standing right next to him. Most people would've swooned by now."

"You didn't," Steve said, raising an eyebrow at Tony, knowing that he was Tony's childhood hero too. And no, sadly Steve wasn't wrong by using past tense in that sentence.

Tony snorted. "I said,  _most people_ , Steve. Better pay attention."

**Coulson nodded. He paused for a moment before saying, "It's a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all," Coulson's face matched the literal definition of proud. "Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but..."**

**But unfortunately, the agent was abruptly cut off by Sitwell's exclamation. "We got a hit! Sixty-seven percent match."**

**Fury quickly connected Sitwell's monitor with his and checked it himself.**

**"Weight, cross match, seventy-nine percent," Sitwell added just as Coulson and Steve walked over to him.**

**"Location?" Coulson asked, not a trace of his nervous attitude earlier was evident.**

**"Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Königstrasse," Sitwell replied, zooming in of Loki's picture on the screen. "He's not exactly hiding."**

"He wasn't intending to," Clint stated. "I told him to be a distraction."

"Well, we didn't realize that at first." Steve murmured.

**"Captain," Fury said , making Steve look up towards him. "You're up."**

**Steve was silent, looking as if he was taking a deep breath. But, he slowly nodded nonetheless.**

**At Germany, Loki stood in front of Stuttgart Museum, dressed in 21st-century attire while holding the scepter, which was disguised as a cane. Apparently, the museum was having a party of sorts, most likely a gala. The demigod walked calmly through the crowd and into the entrance of the gala.**

**Inside, people were enjoying themselves at the gala with an orchestra playing in the background. But, the loud chatter was interrupted by a man in a suit as he walked up to the mic and tested it.**

**The abyss quickly shifted and Steve was seen walking into his own locker room in the helicarrier. As he approached the steel cabinet, the doors slowly opened and revealed the updated Captain America uniform, along with the famous red, white and blue shield.**

**Steve stood before it and stared at them blankly.**

"Get ready to  _suit up_ , Cap," Tony said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"You've been waiting to say that for a while now, haven't you?" Steve half-smiled.

Tony crossed his arms. "Hell yeah."

**Outside the museum, German guards stood in their positions. One od them was standing on top of the roof, scoping. But, then he heard a 'Thwack!' and looked down. He saw a fellow guard stumbled, before he fell on the ground, an arrow sticking out of his chest.**

Clint winced. "Sorry."

**The other guard quickly raised his gun, but he was shot down by an arrow seconds later and fell down too. Then, Clint and his crew came to view and all of them approached the doors of the locked building.**

"Again, sorry," Clint frowned when he saw himself killing those innocent men.

"It's not your fault," Natasha whispered, holding Clint's hand.

**Meanwhile, Loki looked from above the museum at the crowd of people downstairs and descended to where the head doctor was. As he made it down and near the stage, he swiftly flipped his cane and clubbed a nearby guard when he noticed him.**

**Instantly, the attention was averted to him and the doctor turned around to see what happened but Loki was quick to grab him by the neck and the demigod flipped him over onto a marble table.**

**The crowd of people warily backed away from the two men, obviously terrified of what was to come.**

**After that, Loki pulled out what seemed to be an optical torture device from his suit at the same time as Clint placed a SHIELD eye scanner instrument over the retinal scanner.**

"Is he going to…?" Bruce trailed off.

**With no hesitance and mercy, Loki plunged the device down on the doctor's eye. Chaos erupted and everyone quickly ran out of the building while the doctor twisted and squirmed in absolute pain.**

Bruce, Steve, and Thor winced at the sight. "Loki…" Thor sighed, shaking his head.

**Suddenly, from Clint's instrument, a holographic eye of the head doctor appeared and the retinal scanner was lit green in approval, showing an image of the same doctor on screen.**

**The doors to the science facility slowly opened. Clint walked inside and found in a cabinet, a glass thermos with a cylinder of iridium.**

**As the guests ran away, Loki slowly walked out and materialized in his gold armor and helmet. Then, the police started to arrive and with no hesitation, Loki blasted the cars, flipping them onto the hard ground.**

**Suddenly, multiple Lokis appeared before the frightened crowd and encircled them, blocking the people from every way out.**

**"Kneel before me," Loki commanded.**

"Loki, they're German," Tony shook his head at the demigod's stupidity. "Of course, they wouldn't understand you."

**The crowd ignored the demigod and desperately tried to find an exit, but Loki was quick to corner them and he made them back away, forming a circle.**

**"I said," Loki muttered as he raised his scepter and lowered it to the ground, making a 'thump' sound. "** **_KNEEL!_ ** **"**

"Geez, Loki, you didn't need to shout," Clint scowled, covering his ears.

"I bet he was trying to make an impression," Natasha said.

**Everyone finally became quiet and with no other choice, all of them slowly kneeled in front of Loki. The demigod felt satisfied and embraced his arms out, smiling.**

"I'm surprised they understood that," Clint blinked.

"Maybe they remembered their long-forgotten English lesson at school or something," Tony notified. "Which is, in itself, remarkable. I've had like twenty language classes when I was a kid and now I forgot all of them."

"I thought you're supposed to be a  _genius_ , Stark," Natasha stated.

"Well,  _sometimes_ , Romanoff," Tony reasoned, a part of him thinking that he'd never say this out loud years ago. Huh, look how much he changed. "Geniuses can forget too."

 **"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?" Loki asked as he walked through the kneeling crowd. "It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you** **_crave_ ** **subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power…for identity."**

"You're wrong, Loki," Steve narrowed his eyes. "Some humans may think that, but not  _all_  humanity."

**The crowd was silent, either due to fear or how Loki's words impacted them.**

**"You were made to be ruled," Loki stated, smiling. "In the end, you will** **_always_ ** **kneel."**

**As the words resonated with the kneeling crowd, an elder German man quickly made up his mind and slowly stood up, facing Loki.**

"Woah, woah, woah, what's he doing?" Clint asked frantically. "Old man, hey! You don't know what you're-"

**"Not to men like you." The elder stated.**

**A flash of shock was seen in Loki's face but the demigod quickly covered it up with a smile and a small chuckle. "There are no men like me."**

The Avengers but Thor and Clint scoffed.

**But, the elder man wasn't impressed. "There are always men like you."**

"…oookay," Clint mumbled, making the word sound like five syllables. "I take it back, old man. Do continue."

"That guy's a champ," Tony laughed, clapping. "He deserves a standing ovation."

**Loki seemed to have run out of patience and he slowly raised his scepter. "Look to your elder, people," Loki murmured, pointing the end of his scepter towards the elder. "Let him be an example."**

**The elder man looked scared, but he didn't move an inch nor did he kneel.**

Everyone except for Steve, Natasha, and Bruce stared at the sight in horror.

"I take it back, old man," Tony quickly said as he stopped clapping. "The standing ovation can be rain checked, but now you have to  _move!_ "

"I gotta say, he was quite brave for an ordinary elder," Bruce noted rather calmly.

**Loki was about to execute the man with his scepter as it shot an energy beam towards him but the shot was blocked by an unmistakable red, white and blue shield.**

**The shot was redirected back to Loki and made the demigod fall onto his butt.**

"Finally, Cap! What took you so long?" Clint asked.

"Trust me. We were going as fast as we can, Clint," Steve replied.

"That's right," Natasha nodded. "But, Steve here needed some time putting on the suit."

Tony couldn't help but snigger. " _Really_ , Steve?"

Said man only groaned.

**Captain America slowly stood up from his crouched position, his shield still steaming with smoke from the earlier shot.**

**Loki looked up, furious t o whoever had interrupted him.**

**"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else," Cap said as he walked towards the fallen demigod. "We ended up disagreeing."**

"Very funny, Cap," Bruce pointed out.

**"The soldier," Loki smiled and stood up, recognizing Cap's face. "A man out of time."**

**"I'm not the one who's out of time." Cap retorted.**

**The second he said that the quinjet arrived and hovered above them. Natasha pushed a button inside the plane and a machine gun was swiftly pointed towards Loki.**

**"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Natasha's voice said through the speaker.**

"You  _really_  think he'd do that?" Tony frowned.

"Unlike you, Stark, we have…procedures," Natasha replied.

**But Loki did neither as he sent a blast of blue at the quinjet. Natasha maneuvered it just in time, giving Cap the time to throw his shield at Loki.**

**The crowd took it as their cue and quickly ran away from the two people, who began to duke it out. After dodging a few blows, Loki flung Cap to the ground. Cap got back up and threw his shield again at Loki, but the demigod merely swatted it away with his scepter.**

**Cap began to fight with his bare hands, using all the moves of a boxer, but he was quickly knocked down by Loki. The Asgardian stood over the hero, pointing the scepter's tip on Cap's helmet.**

**"Kneel," Loki ordered.**

**"Not today!" Cap shouted, flipping and knocking Loki with his leg.**

**A few feet away from them, Natasha was observing the fight from the quinjet.**

**"The guy's all over the place," The red-haired agent murmured as she watched Loki flung Cap onto the ground again.**

**Natasha was deliberating over what to do when a familiar voice suddenly filled the cockpit.**

**"Agent Romanoff. You miss me?"**

**Simultaneously, AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" overdrove the quinjet's PA system. Natasha blinked and merely sighed, experience enabling her to not be annoyed at the one person who was capable of doing this.**

"What a way to make a grand entrance, man," Clint said, chuckling.

"Tony…" Steve groaned. "We talked about this."

"Hey, this was  _before_  your lecture, Steve!" Tony reasoned. "My past self wouldn't have  _known_  you don't like that song!"

"For the hundredth time, it's  _not_  about the song!"

**Both Cap and Loki looked up to the sky just in time to see Iron Man flying over to them, with the latter quickly sending a blast towards Loki. Iron Man touched down at the same time as Loki hit the ground.**

**The billionaire stood up and pulled out every piece of weaponry the suit had and directed it towards Loki, Cap sprinting over to them in the background. "Make your move, Reindeer Games."**

"Where did you get all of the nicknames, Tones?" Clint asked.

"His  _genius_  brain, of course," Natasha replied for Tony.

Tony grinned. "Why, thank you, Natashalie."

"That wasn't a compliment, Stark."

**Loki seemed to know when he was defeated and the demigod slowly put his hands up, his gold armor slowly fading away.**

**Iron Man recognized the stance and retracted the weapons back, satisfied. "Good move."**

**Cap exhaled a breath, glancing at Iron Man beside him. "Mr. Stark."**

**Iron Man's faceplate enabled them both to not see Tony's wince before he answered, "Captain."**

Steve's eyes widened. He didn't realize at first, but now Steve noticed that he had addressed Tony the same way he did with Howard.

He greeted Tony just like his  _father_.

To anyone who knows Tony Stark, that was unforgivable.

"I'm sorry, Tony," Steve said immediately. "I didn't know-"

"Yeah, no worries, Steve. I get it," Tony waved his hand, brushing the question off.

Steve frowned. Despite what he said, Tony didn't deny that it wasn't okay. He didn't say that it was fine, that  _he_  was fine. But right now wasn't the time to confront him, so Steve remained silent.

And if the others noticed how Tony answered a bit too quickly for their liking, none of them mentioned it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "дорогая" : Sweetheart


End file.
